6th Educational Technology Carnival - "Definitions"

More than ever, we find ourselves divided by a common language. We mean to say one thing, but people hear another. That's why we've got to constantly make sure that our words are not just remembered, but understood as we mean them to be understood. And that brings us to today's edition of the Ed Tech Blog Carnival. What do you mean when you say "ed tech"? How about "school"? How are the definitions of common words changing, and how can we use carefully chosen words to increase our impact on students, colleagues, and the wider community? Enjoy!

Bernard Bull asks what universities are for in a day of open-source knowledge, and challenges those in the field of e-learning to do more than set up digital libraries.

Who defines appropriate content for students, and what's worth fighting for in ongoing filter wars? Larry Ferlazzo explores the idea.

Cassanova helps us out with definitions of XHTML and CSS terms.

Rebecca Wallace-Segall considers how to use academic (in her case, literary) competition well in an op-ed piece that was printed in the Wall Street Journal. I liked her definitions of positive and negative competitions.

Scott McLeod defines states that are economic overachievers and economic underachievers while offering an insight into why some states seem more eager to jump on the 21st century skills bandwagon than others...desperation.

Scott H defines his freshman year of college in a list of 101 things he learned. Not a bad list to share with any upcoming frosh in your life. Somehow it reminds me of the "your day in a sentence" meme that's floating around out there in the blogosphere.

Matthew Needleman wonders if we define special ed students by their labels, and suggests that we change the way we talk about them.

In an earlier post on this very blog, I considered the meanings of "student" and "teacher" - can changing the terms we use effect educational reform?

British schools, like most school systems, are institutions above all. Carol Bentley points out that a government fiat means a temporary spending bonanza is on the horizon. How do you define bureaucracy?

And finally, if you haven't seen it yet the site Free Rice offers a way for you to practice your vocabulary while also helping feed the hungry around the world - for free!

That's it for this edition. Our next edition will not come out as regularly scheduled due to vacation. The publication date will be Wednesday, January 2. Oh, and the theme! "Everywhere". I hope to see your submission soon!